Reports reaching the Leyte provincial police office said only 1,245 of the Abuyog penal colony’s 1,256 inmates were accounted for when the Bureau of Fire Protection declared the fire out late Thursday night.
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Officials refused to confirm whether these missing inmates escaped the prison facility or killed by fire that hit the penal colony 3:45 p.m. on Thursday.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that five of the fatalities had occurred at the prison’s psychiatric ward, two others who died were “weak, old and suffering from eye problems” and two were farm workers who went inside the building to save fellow inmates and salvage farm equipment.
Olaguer said the fire may have been caused by faulty wiring in the building that was built after the earlier fire in 2013.
Investigation would be conducted to determine the cause the fire in the maximum security building inside the prison colony located in Barangay Mahagna, about 20 km away from the town proper of Abuyog.
“The whole maximum security compound was struck by the fire, so everyone inside the cells was caught in the blaze”, municipal fire marshal Eric Barcelo told reporters.
Ong said that the survivors were brought to the nearby medium security building. On its website, the bureau said the prison’s facilities were “often below par” compared to other prisons.
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Authorities transferred prisoners from the damaged section to a minimum-security compound.
